NTA’s 1st national TVET forum ends

The three-day forum, which brought together stakeholders in TVET, was funded by the World Bank.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Edrissa Kolley, officer in charge at the NTA, said the forum was all about trying to reflect on what NTA has been doing in the past ten years, since it came into being in 2002 and became operational in 2003.

Mr Kolley said the 1st National TVET forum was conveyed to evaluate the achievements and challenges of the programme, as well as to discuss with stakeholders the best way forward for quality and relevance in TVET.

TVET is another way of promoting education, which is a combination of both the academic route and the technical area like the vocational education, to help those who have completed their training enter the job market to seek lucrative employment.

Delivering his statement, a representative of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MOHERST) thanked the NTA for organizing such an important forum, which was all about stocktaking and reflecting on their achievements, constraints and how to deal with the challenges and make progress.

The ministry of higher education is an arm of Government charged with the dispensation of TVET programme through NTA, he said, adding that the ministry would ensure they support in the dispensation of TVET programmes in the country.

He added that MOHERST would look at the report and outcome of the meeting to make appropriate intervention into meeting education objective.

For his part, Abdoulie M.A. Loum, higher education and TVET consultant, said TVET is very important in the socio-economic development of any country, especially a developing country like The Gambia.

Countries like Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, China, and India with highly trained professionals through TVET have highly paid human resources.

“For a developing country like The Gambia, we need highly qualified engineers, technicians, craftsmen, etc in order for the economy of The Gambia to move forward rather than depending on expertise that will not be sustainable,” he said.